September 19, 2006

United Methodists will be featured in an upcoming CBS-TV special exploring the Chautauqua Institution, an educational center in New York.

CBS will air the 30-minute interfaith program at 8 a.m. Eastern time and 5 a.m. Pacific Time on Sunday, Oct. 8.

Both founders of the Chautauqua Institution – the Rev. John Heyl Vincent, a minister, and Lewis Miller, an inventor and manufacturer – were Methodists. Chautauqua started in 1874 as a summer retreat for Sunday school teachers and later expanded into a summer cultural and religious retreat for people of all ages and faiths.

Now a National Historic District, the institution operates as an educational center, hosting approximately 7,500 a day during the nine-week summer session. The summer school offers a variety of courses in the arts, and the religion department presents distinguished religious leaders of various faiths as preachers and teachers. The Rev. Joan Brown Campbell, former chief executive of the National Council of Churches, is director of the department of religion.

During the program, the Rev. Ted Anderson, pastor of Hurlbut Memorial Community United Methodist Church in Chautauqua, leads a tour of Palestine Park. A visit also is made to United Methodist House, one of the oldest denominational houses at the institution.

Others featured in the program include Campbell, Tom Becker, Chautauqua's president, and the Rev. Albert J.D. Aymer, president of Hood Theological Seminary. Kevin Sixbey and four student leaders with the Abrahamic Youth Program will talk about the program's goal of dispelling the stereotypes of the Christian, Jewish and Muslim faith traditions.

The special is produced with the cooperation of the National Council of Churches, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Islamic Society of North America and a consortium of Jewish organizations. John P. Blessington is the executive producer and Liz Kineke is the producer.

More information can be found at http://www.interfaithbroadcasting.com/ online.

United Methodist News Service